How I saved a fragment of the 18th century Wallachian style wall painting at Batistei Church in Bucharest. In January 2017 during an architectural tour, which I conducted in the area, I photographed the damage done to the painting due to boiler pipes installed in the church. The face of a saint was pierced in order to allow the conduct of the boiler pipe. This was my first viral photograph, reaching on Facebook over 900,000 persons, and generating interest in the media. As a result of this exposure, the church priests took steps to remove the pipes and somehow restore the face of the saint in the fresco, which was pierced to make room for the pipe. I documented that repair by taking another photograph that I took when I visited again the church, with an architectural tour in October 2017. Thus through the power of social media, I managed to save an ancient, for Bucharest, fresco!
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My aim, through this series of blog articles, is to inspire appreciation of the historic houses of Romania and Southeast Europe, a virtually undiscovered, but fascinating chapter of world architectural history and heritage.
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If you have a historic house project in Romania or other country in Southeast Europe, I would be delighted to advise you in aspects pertaining to its architectural history and ways to preserve as much as possible from its period fabric and aesthetics in the course of restoration or renovation works, or to counsel you with specialist consultancy work related to that project. To discuss your particular plan please see my contact details in the Contact page of this website.
Valentin Mandache, architectural historian 